Wednesday, August 2, 2017

7 Young And Successful African Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2017

By David Cox


The stars of African entrepreneurship seem to be shinning brighter by the day. Young talents are emerging to build brands that change the business landscape and the lives of people in an unimaginable way. It is surprising and encouraging when you think of the age of these inventive business personalities. Here is a list of successful African entrepreneurs who are causing ripples despite their age.

Adeniyi Makanjuola could easily be missed from the crowd because of a reserved demeanor. However, those who know him think that this image is deceptive. His advances in the oil and gas, energy, financial and aviation sectors are notable. He has begun to challenge multinationals that have dominated the aviation sector for years. The growth his brand is experiencing has also seen him expand to countries beyond Africa including Middle East and Europe.

Tanzania is attracting the interest of the world with Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe, a former beauty queen and musician leading the way. It is remarkable that she is a self styled lady in the furniture industry. Her brand is Molacaho which specializes in afro-centric designs that have the unique Dar touch. The materials are also locally sourced, making the attractive to the local and international market.

Akuyuli Ndijeka Crosby adds a star to Nigeria as a source of the most successful entrepreneurs. Her love is art and paintings which have the distinct taste of collage, print making, drawing and photo transfer. She rose to fame in 2012 when one of her art pieces christened Drone and valued at 300,000 dollars sold for 1.1 million dollars.

Fatoumata Ba runs the marketing arm of Jumia in Ivory Cost and is as intriguing as they would come. She rose to the limelight with the launch of Jumia Ivory Coast in 2013 with the support of Africa Internet Group in 2013. She then moved to Nigeria and replicated the same success. She is just 29 and has managed to move the African shoppers online, a shift that would have been predicted to take place decades from now.

Can you remember where you were at 25 and how much you were worth? Well, Rupert Bryan, a South African internet entrepreneur was a millionaire. He had a vision which led him to form the ISP-Web Africa at the tender age of 14. This company rose from scratch to turn over in excess of R130 million each year.

DryBath was an inventive brand that would catapult Ludwick Marishane of Tanzania to the limelight. Some quarters regarded him as a prodigy for this invention which was done at 17 years of age. He has won numerous awards because of his brilliance including recognition by Global Championship of Global Students Entrepreneurs. One of his driving beliefs is that a genuine entrepreneur does not need motivation or encouragement to actualize his idea.

Patrick Ngowi can best be described as a man after excellence, industrious and of incredible intellect. With only 50 dollars, he built the Helvetic Group to be a global brand by providing incredible and sustainable solutions. This company was founded at age 15 and has grown to be worth more than 8 million dollars. The Nigerian has expanded beyond Africa to China, Europe and USA.




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